Anti-rant oasis

I've moved. This Blog is no longer active. Click here to go to my new website. It's way better.

2010-04-29T21:47:00.002-05:00

I've been way too busy to post here for a while. We're in the process of moving to Canada (for my work) and, in parallel, I'm migrating my online presence to another more capable location - Apple's me.com pages.

I'm moving my blog for a number of reasons, on is because I didn't really have a blog, but rather used it more like a place to highlight my poems for Meegan. Second, I'm sick of all of the spam comments that blogger.com allows to ruin the blogging experience here.

Anyhow, enough of that - go here: http://web.me.com/meegansman/Stevens_Website/Welcome.html

Gigging for Flounder When I Was Twelve

2009-08-09T09:02:00.003-05:00

I'm posting this poem because I just realized that it wasn't here anymore. I posted it shortly after I wrote it, but I must have accidentally removed it back when I was having problems with the blog.

Although most of my poems now are centered around Meegan, I do write about other things on occasion. The occasion of this was my son's twelfth birthday. He's almost fifteen now, so I'm sure he's forgotten all about this.

Gigging for Flounder When I Was Twelve
- by Steven for Clayton

I went gigging on calm nights
off the beach in Mississippi
in late summer
when I was twelve
I had a lantern - the old Coleman type
that you can turn up ridiculously bright –
and a Styrofoam cooler tied to a little rope.
For my gig,
I had a stick
with two prongs on the end of it.

Sometimes I went alone,
But it’s best to have a buddy to pull you to shore
if something takes a little bite
or a sting-ray pops you
or the worst - the jellyfish.

I waded out barefoot.
Gig in one hand,
lantern and the rope towing the cooler in the other.
I shuffled along –
waist deep for a twelve year old.
I had to shuffle and not pick up my feet.
Because it’s hard to spot a sting-ray
and painful to step on one,
but if I pushed them up from below,
they just swam away.

I’d see the flounder –
sometimes just the eyes –
hiding
flat
on the sand.
I’d spear it with my gig,
wait until it settled down.
then pull it up and shake it into the cooler.

The best gigging was way out on the sand bars.
Most people wouldn’t go out there at night.
I’d stick the lantern,
and some matches,
into the cooler
and swim out to the sand bars.

I didn’t just gig flounder out there.
I conquered fear.
I marveled at the horribly beautiful
rainbow-colored malevolence
of a jellyfish floating by.
My skin became electric.
My eyes sharp as broken bottles.
My heart pumped hard enough to make the waves.

When I swam
away from the safety of the shallows to the sand bars,
a charge flowed through me
at the contrast
of the cool deep water around my legs
and the warm water at my neck.
Then, standing chest deep,
far from shore,
in the moonlight,
before the lantern was lit,
I could feel in my chest,
the pulse of the ocean in the waves.
I felt small and insignificant,
like driftwood.
I felt intangible,
like the billions of moonlight shimmers on the water.
I felt triumphant
and primitive
and humbled.

Then I'd light the lantern and start gigging.

Cap De Creus

2009-07-25T16:41:00.007-05:00

Meegan and I didn't get to take our Cancun vacation. At the last minute, I had to travel to Germany for work. So instead, Meegan went with me and we took a week of vacation in Spain. We flew to Barcelona and drove down to Sitges then up along the Spanish coast to the Costa Brava region until we reached Cadeques. One morning while we were in Cadeques, we woke up early to drive out to the Cap De Crues (Cape of Crosses) to see the sunrise. Cap De Creus is the eastern most point on mainland Spain and marks the end of the Pyrenees mountains. Rising above the sea cliffs is an old lighthouse. This lighthouse was the filming location for a 1971 movie called "The Light at the Edge of the World". I liked the sound of that, so I took a little artistic license and tweaked it a little and made this poem for Meegan.

We'll be back in Cancun soon, baby. I promise!
You are the love of my life! (And you know I can't wait too long to see you laying on the beach :-)

Cap De Creus
- by Steven for Meegan

I was there with you -
as unbelievable as
the living shape of you
from the water of life
and the ashes of stars -
yet,
I was there with you

We walked.
The silk wind
fluttered over our skin
Your dress a happy sail
My heart a stowaway to Shangri La
At the dizzy speed of laughter,
we walked.

I saw
the light at the end of the world,
the jagged edge of the old continent,
a coral sunrise in your eyes.
In a land with no trees,
I found a tree to climb.
From the edge of the sea cliff,
I gazed up at you
and I saw
the light at the end of my world.

Father's Day

2009-06-13T18:59:00.003-05:00

Despite the name, this was not written for Father's Day. I just liked that name for it.

Father's Day
- by Steven for Meegan

I figured out everything about driving
while riding in the front seat with my father
while trees and side streets slid by
I watched his weathered hands
on the wheel
and the shifter
I saw the sacred rituals that made the metal monster go

His right thumb pushed the shiny cigarette lighter in
then back to the steering wheel
left hand twirled the window down
then back to the wheel again
right hand to the lighter - just as it popped out
curved hand cupped the lighter to his face
then clicked it back into place
right hand grasped the wheel
left arm raised to rest on the window seal
Then he would squint at me through the smoke
to see if I had all of that figured out

I figured out more than just how to drive
I figured out that most people are idiots
and my dad could make a car go faster than anyone else
I figured out that adventure was out there waiting
on the curvy backroads
where the trees covered the road
and out on the crunchy gravel roads
where we would stop and wade into the cold water
and look for buried treasure
and stick smooth stones that must be as old as the world into our pockets
then get back into the car
and rumble off
just before the Indians could sneak up on us

I don't know what my father thought of me
when I was a goofy kid
asking too many questions
What does this button do?
What does that light mean?
Are we gonna see Indians today?
Can I build a raft when we get to the big river?

I don't know what he would think of me now
He was gone long before I started to really figure things out

Sometimes, the little boy inside me hopes,
that on some Father's Day,
he'll come driving down our little backroad
and pull his midnight blue Ranchero into our driveway
snuff out his cigarette in the ashtray
step out
and squint at me through the last of his smoke
to see if I figured it all out
I would shake his hand
and bring him inside to meet you
And when you met him
and smiled
and gave him a kiss on his cheek,
he'd smile
and he would know
that I finally did figure it all out

Only You

2009-06-13T18:43:00.003-05:00

It's been too long since I posted. I've just too busy with life. No good excuses really, just poor prioritization. Anyhow, here's another poem I wrote for Meegan. I love you, baby!

Only You

- by Steven for Meegan

Only you know
that if my soul has blades, they are blue.
Sharp blades -
turned blue by the heat of lust,
quenched for strength in the cold blue water of sadness,
polished by the soft blue horizon of dreams,
- cut to the surface
and emerge in my eyes.

Only you can see
the glowing edge of a long-silent soul
shining like a beacon
to guide you close to my whispered love.

Only you can speak to me
with the touch of fingertips
and lips
and skin

Only you know
the tease that makes me giggle
and the one that makes me growl

Only you can know
what mysteries,
what wonders,
what adventures,
what joys,
these eyes will see
before the ever-marching darkness dulls the blades
and drains the blue hope from these eyes.
Only you.

Natural Beauty

2008-10-07T19:22:00.007-05:00

by Steven for Meegan

Sunrises pass by
as glimpses through car windows
Sunsets exchanged for streetlights
Misty morning trails unwalked
A world of trees waves
without a friendly wave back
A universe of stars spins by
without notice
without music
without applause for an encore.
Red columns of ancient sand
stand nameless,
stained by the bloody rust of eons
defying armies of wind and rain –
stone Spartans
against Persian Time.

Here is a great mystery –
why do I see this beauty?
And a lesser mystery –
why do I turn away from it?

When her smile
or the curve of her neck
is all I long to see,
when her touch
is all I long to feel,
why do I go away from her?

Because beautiful nature bites,
chews on flesh
and gnaws on bone
Hear Her cold claws scrape the door?
Feel Her frozen breath around the seal?

Stones must be stacked against the wind
Cover pitched against the rain
Wood must be made to burn
or money

Yet even as the storm approaches,
we marvel at Her beauty
Sublime and terrible
Lightning and thunder
Our awe is our most archaic worship
Her beauty
is our recognition of our ambivalent Mother,
Creator, Destroyer

The marrow of our bones hums
an ancient song of the sun rising and setting
The moon pulls our blood out to sea
Generations rise and fall like
waves in the ocean
In our hearts we know
we are just the same
and nothing more than waves
We are born of the deep blue
turned red by the gasped breath
a whispered verse
in a song She writes
another verse follows
and another
and another
in a song with no beginning or end

(© 2008 SPH. All Rights Reserved.)

This Woman

2008-10-07T19:19:00.003-05:00

by Steven for Meegan

By the faintest magic,
you found me
there in the corner by the window
Outside, the cold December wind
whispered around hard corners
to lonely hearts,
go home
Inside, I almost didn’t wait,
but did
a little longer
tied down with the merest tendril of hope

Then suddenly, at last
you were there
this woman
this walking smile
this summer sun
In that moment, I wondered
if I could fly in your blue sky
or if I dreamed too high
and, like Icarus
I would fall away from you
into liquid blue
loneliness

Two years later, now I see
I never dreamed high enough
The deep blue sea, a forgotten friend
fades away below me
and I soar
my wings stretched out into the vastness of everything
in your blue sky smile

(© 2008 SPH. All Rights Reserved.)

Am I Your Water?

2008-04-20T20:59:00.001-05:00

Water is a blind and reckless,
beautiful and restless traveler.
Am I your water?
If I evaporate into the sky,
if I land far away,
if I trickle through the tall grass
and tumble over stones,
if I carve valleys out of mountains
to return to you,
will you drink me in?
Will you pour me over your skin?
Will you melt whatever's frozen
and launch me to the sky again?

Trees Have Crazy Arms

2008-04-20T20:56:00.001-05:00

Trees have crazy arms -
Some bent, some broken,
patiently resilient,
desperately persistent,
maniacally, haphazardly hopeful.
If I had crazy arms like the trees,
would you be my sun,
so that my fingers can always
reach for you?

Valentine's Day Poem

2008-02-24T22:31:00.006-06:00

What would Valentine's Day be without love-struck goofballs like me writing corny poems for their Valentines? Probably just a day to make chocolatiers, florists, and card-makers rich. Here's my strike against the commercialization of everything sacred!

No, really, it's just my corny little poem from my Valentine, Meegan. I proposed to her last Valentine's Day. So there was no way I could top that.

I love you, baby!

Forever My Valentine

What filled this year -
this arrow stretched between two Valentine's Days?
What treasures to share -
memories only we can know?

Joy
and more joy.
Days that close with smile-aches
and tummies tired from laughter.
Love
and more love.
Kisses so tender the earth quakes
and trembles with the sighs that come after.

Through your ears I whispered
my love to your soul.
Through your eyes you answered
you love to mine.
Promise me, my love
that you are forever my Valentine.

(© 2007 SPH. All Rights Reserved.)

Shipwrecked

2008-02-24T22:06:00.003-06:00

I wrote this poem for Meegan during our second honeymoon. We loved Cancun so much that we returned just three months after our honeymoon. We can't wait to go back. I am tempted to blather on about how much more in love with Meegan every day, but that's what the poems are for. So, for my true love, here is a little poem.

Shipwrecked

She blossoms in sunlight
vibrant
her toes curled into the sand
her hair swaying in the ocean breeze.
My hands caress her dunes.
My eyes inhale her landscape -
wet with sweat and shimmering
like a sensual, golden El Dorado.

An artist
with the wind for hands
and waves for fingers
sculpted her curves into a beach
upon which my shipwrecked heart has crashed.

I smile as my burning ship
floats past the horizon.
I toss the torch into the waves
and turn to watch her
blossom in the sunlight.

(© 2007 SPH. All Rights Reserved.)

My Wedding Poem for Meegan

2007-10-21T21:00:00.001-05:00

We're married!

We had a fantastic wedding and reception on Oct. 13th! We're humbled and thankful for all of our family and friends that came to celebrate with us.

We just returned yesterday (10/20) from our honeymoon on the Mayan Riviera in Mexico. It was absolutely the best honeymoon imaginable - all because of Meegan. She is truly unbelievable. I am so proud to be her husband. She is the most beautiful, intelligent, funny, touching, sweet, exciting, and sexy woman on Earth - and she's my wife!

In keeping with the complete transformation of this blog into the official Poems for Meegan Blog, I'm posting the latest poem I've written for her.

I wrote this as a wedding gift for Meegan, but it will never be a finished poem.
Love is an infinite mystery.
My life with Meegan is an endless adventure.
I will always find more of her to know and love.

I Didn’t Know

I had no doubt,
when I first saw you,
given the chance,
I would love you.

I knew
I would love your body,
your skin,
your hair . . . your hair.

I didn’t know
I’d love to hear your sleepy, southern voice
stretch your a’s into sexy curves
and rub smooth your r’s.

I didn’t know
I’d love the taste
of coffee and cream
in your Saturday morning kiss.

I didn’t know
I’d love the little girl
who giggles, “Kitty cat!”
when she spots one nearby.

I didn’t know
I’d love the feeling
of falling backwards into the sky
when I see you smile.

I didn’t know
I would get dizzy watching you
while I walk toward you
and dizzier still when you walk toward me.

I didn’t know,
before your touch,
that my soul was spread out thin
and inhabited my skin.

I didn’t know,
before you,
that I could be this loved
or love this much.

Could You Find Me?

2007-07-25T20:48:00.000-05:00

Posting this for Meegan. Final version, baby.

Could You Find Me?

Could you find me?
In the early morning
drifting between the pines
with the smell of loam and salt
and pine needles
crunched beneath my steps

Could you find me?
On a dusty barefoot trail
between pecan tree shadows
at the edge of a scorching Georgia cotton field
where mysteries shimmer, silver-blue on cotton leaves
and dragonflies
and the ghost of a dead snake
hover around me.

Listen for me.
I'm tripping along the train tracks,
curving through the darkness,
with a penny that my father gave me
warm and flattened
in my hand
in my pocket.

Look for me.
I'm floating in the gloaming
on the big muddy river
past the island
where my father's white stone
fades to gray.

Do you see me out there?
I'm rustling through the saw-blade corn leaves,
covered in pollen and smelling like
grass and honey.

I might have been difficult to see
quiet in German forests
covered in green and brown like all the others
You may not have noticed me
a speck of sand
in an African desert
my boots worn
and white with salt

Could you find me out there
like you found me
in my blue shirt
in the coffee shop?
It seemed so easy,
but I had to travel so long
so far
so alone
to get to where
you found me.

(© 2007 SPH. All Rights Reserved.)

Blue

2007-06-28T22:14:00.000-05:00

You guessed it. Another poem for Meegan. Written to cover her coffee on June 27th.

All of the poems I write for Meegan are connected to conversations we've had and have references in them that only she will recognize. Sometimes they refer back to earlier poems. This one has both, including a reference to the first poem I wrote for her, "Heart-Shaped Parachute".

For any of my friends that read this, we have a wedding date set! Finally. October 13th. I know it's not cool and all to be a single guy looking forward to getting married, but I truly am looking forward to it. I love her more everyday. On October 13th, I just get to tell everyone about that. Well, everyone that's there that hasn't already read it here.

This was inspired by a theme from a Lucinda Williams song by the same name. No resemblance to her sublime work of art, however. On to the poem . . .

Blue

You are blue
not sad
but sometimes that

No, you are the blue
of morning twilight
and new horizons
enchanting, exciting
hopeful and mysterious

I am still falling
into your blue sky smile
so full of hope
stretched out by more love
than a man can fathom

You are my blue
infinite, oceanic
yet as delicate as the blue in shadows
and raindrops

You are my blue
and I am yours

(© 2007 SPH. All Rights Reserved.)

Everything

2007-06-09T08:44:00.000-05:00

Another poem for Meegan - written to cover her coffee in the morning on June 4th. Meegan likes these posted here. I'm a little hesitant about posting them because these morning notes don't get polished up, but she enjoys them. Maybe someone else will also. Although, as I'm sure anyone can understand, that's not important.

Everything

I watched you sleep
your hands
clutching the blanket beneath your chin
your cat-eyes closed
your face relaxed
beautiful

You
so small there
in our bed
in our room
at the edge of the forest
on this spinning blue marble
in the vastness of nothing

You
impossible that you are mine
I cannot contain you
You grin and stretch
like a cat
out into the universe
your warmth beats back the cold
your smile brings the dawn
your touch churns the oceans
your whisper stirs the winds
here you are
the vastness of everything

(© 2007 SPH. All Rights Reserved.)

Yesterday

2007-05-17T22:51:00.000-05:00

Ok, so my blog has turned into the "Poems about Meegan blog". Sorry, but Meegan likes it that way.

Anyhow, I have a morning routine that I follow most mornings. Before I leave for work, I grind some premium coffee beans and leave them in a filter and cone on a coffee cup on Meegan's dresser. Then, to make sure nothing floats into that fine preparation (she has a beautiful, but sheddy cat), I place a piece of notepaper over the filter. On the paper, I leave a little note. Yeah, sappy stuff. It's ridiculous and embarrassing how sappy I've gotten. I'll write the blog about how to synchronize your motorcycle's carburetors some other time.

So, here's a poem that I wrote on one of those notes. Meegan wanted it posted. Thus, it is so.

Yesterday

Yesterday, I held
my woman in my arms
and she was there
in skin
in warmth
in muscles pulling tight
and relaxing
in softness
in soul
and mind
and heart
and every fine moment
I have ever known
summed together
could not equal
yesterday, I held
the love of my life
in my arms

(© 2007 SPH. All Rights Reserved.)

She said, "Yes!"

2007-02-15T21:57:00.001-06:00

For my friends that have been keeping up-to-date on my blog, I asked Meegan to marry me and she said "Yes!" So, I am now the happiest man in the world engaged to the most beautiful woman in the world - inside and out. She's the love of my life.

Here's the poem I wrote for her for Valentine's Day.

In the Moment

In the moment our arms embrace
In the moment your nakedness covers mine
In the moment your hands cup my face
In the moment our legs entwine

I am still
and quiet
like in the forest
when the trees are whispering

You breathe
rhythmically
you become

the waves

the tides

the day and night

the seasons

life and death

In the moment my love surrenders,
your love captures me
In the moment my love aches,
your love destroys me
In the moment my love breathes,
your love resurrects me

In the moment my love

(© 2007 SPH. All Rights Reserved.)

Heart-Shaped Parachute

2007-02-04T00:00:00.000-06:00

I am posting a poem. I never intended to put anything like this up here when I started my blog, but I've recently been inspired.

I've always considered myself the luckiest man in the world. I've lived an adventurous or fool-hardy life, depending on perspective. I am now convinced that all of my adventures, all of my risk-taking, was to prepare me, to give me the courage, to jump into my life's greatest adventure - my life with Meegan.

If you read this post in the next few days, whisper a wish of good luck for me. I will be asking her to marry me.

Heart-Shaped Parachute

Even the bravest men

rush toward the door and hope

that the momentum of the line

carries them past their fear

and shame of fear.

Then, before it can be real

I am out

into the dizzy, noisy, weightless waiting

for the very hand of fate

to yank me upward.

Just the same,

carried by the momentum of the kiss,

the touch,

the deep impetus of things said with lips,

but without words,

I pushed past my fear

into your blue sky smile

falling toward the warm earth and amber sunlight

of your eyes.

In the dizzy, noisy, weightless waiting,

I asked you,

“What do you want from me?”

“Everything”, you replied.

I wanted to ask,

but lacked the courage to ask

or maybe, to know,

“Will you take it from me

or share it with me?”

The trust I have placed in a parachute

is so small

compared to the trust I must have

in your heart.

Good Motorcycle Roads in West Tennessee - updated 8/8/07

2006-08-13T01:12:00.000-05:00

In Tennessee, we’re blessed that our state superbly maintains its smaller state highways and backroads. You really have to get onto a small county road in Tennessee to find a marginally maintained road. Although the state seems to be working inexorably to straighten every one of them, some of the winding backroads that give Tennessee its character still remain. In east Tennessee, some of those roads have gained much deserved fame – 129 (Deal’s Gap), the Blue Ridge Parkway, or the Cherohola Skyway. West Tennessee can’t claim roads with the drama or the vistas of those roads. However, if you’re a restless bike rider with a soft spot for curved asphalt, West Tennessee has some roads you should get to know.

I want to share some of the wonderful roads I’ve found and ridden frequently in West Tennessee. They’ll be identified by their state highway number and, sometimes, a nearby town. You’ll still need a good map to find some of them. I’ve tried to provide some simple potential hazards to look out for. I sometimes start with a chauvinistic description that compares them to a fictitious female stereotype. That’s intended in good humor and to impart a sense of the personality I think the road has. If you don’t like such devices, just skip the first sentence and don’t throw a fit.

I have 3 preachy things first:

I don’t encourage you to exceed any posted speed limits. Any comments about speed limits or traffic cops are simply my opinions for me and my riding habits. Don’t ride like me. I have a defective sense of mortality. If you do speed and you get caught, stop and face the music. The police officers are just doing their job and don’t deserve to die trying to catch you before you kill yourself or someone else. (If you caught the reference about me running from a sheriff in another post, then just so I don't sound hypocritical, I didn't know he was a sheriff.) You know you’re breaking the law, so once caught, pay your fun tax and call it even. If you’re really stupid like me, go to the race track. It’s more fun and much, much safer. Last, I mean no disrespect to any policemen. I’ve ridden with many of them, and to a man, they’re good guys and highly recommended riding partners.
Treat the locals with respect. If you piss them off, they’ll call the local sheriff or the highway patrol and you’ll have ruined a good thing for yourself and everyone else. That’s not just with respect to your riding behavior. If you like loud pipes (and what rider doesn’t?), then keep in them in mind whenever you’re close to homes. You and I might want a home beside a race track, but, believe it or not, most people don’t.
If you ride, wear the best gear you can get - helmet, gloves, riding suit (leather is best), boots, back protector, etc. I'm alive today because Arai makes the best helmet you can put your head inside. I can still walk because a plated back protector can provide just the margin you need to beat the harsh realities of Newtonian physics. I still have all my skin because Vanson Leathers puts stitches to the most beautiful and tough cow skin you can wrap around your tender epidermis. If you don't have the money or the sense to wear some gear, get a go-cart and stay in your driveway.

Now, the roads:

128 (Savannah-Clifton-Linden)
A bombshell that starts off mild, but will bite you when she finally gets you alone.
Old 128 is left just past a Shell station if you're headed east through Savannah. The new name is Clifton Road (actually, this has changed, but I didn't catch the new name). Go north out of Savannah on old 128. It begins as a very nice smooth road full of good sweepers and pretty scenery. The speed limit is a completely ludicrous 45 mph. The fact that this is no longer a state highway is a blessing - little traffic, no cops.
You'll eventually intersect the new and boring 128 less than 10 miles from Clifton. New 128 is an unimaginative, flat road that starts east of Savannah. (I don't know the exact mileage). Slow down in Clifton - you will almost always see a cop trolling for revenue.

128 north from Clifton is much better than the section to the south. A perfect repaving job on the northern half of the north section makes this a road for serious grins. Light traffic, fantastic curves – it’s a delight. Just as a side note, it's also a road for serious hurt if you get carried away. Watch for gravel where small side roads intersect 128. Some lead to gravel pits nearby and that is a bad thing. I was painfully reminded of that hazard when I low-sided my CBR954RR into a tree at about 70 mph. A particularly good loop is the triangle formed by 128-13-228.

There are a few good side roads off of 128 that you’ll see along the way. Explore them, but carefully, they’re smaller and less well maintained and that’s where the houses are located. T-boning a minivan leaving a driveway will screw up your riding plans for the day.

228 (Clifton)
Girl-next-door sister to 128.
Just on the north end of Clifton, turn right at the sign. The pavement is good, but watch out for a few broken patches. I've not noticed any problems in critical areas. Blind turns abound. One right-hander in particular will sucker you when headed back toward Clifton. Because the trees practically cover the road, fallen leaves can be a problem in late summer and fall.

13 between 228 and 128 (Bisects TN)
Homecoming queen with lots of big protective brothers. She’s fun if you can get her alone.
At the end of 228 turn left on 13 and hang on. It starts out calmly but has some curves built for lean angles. For the next few miles, it's sweet, particularly the section between 48 and 128. Highway patrol is frequently spotted on this road, especially in this section. 13 is a generally good road for laid-back touring from 64, north all the way past I-40. You'll see flocks of Harley's and Goldwings on 13.

48 and 230 (South of I-40, north of Centerville)
Very naughty, very sexy, very dangerous roommates.
I almost left these two off the list. They’re too good and too close to I-40. If you ride one, you ride the other. They’re joined at their sexy hips. Just be careful or you’ll be sorry. 48 is the sick one. Probably because of their proximity to I-40, I have seen the occasional trooper on them. Update: 48's bridges are under construction as of the end of July.

104 (Lexington to Milan or Lexington to Reagan)
A wild girl turned mom, sweet curves, but not racy anymore.
Way too popular with local bikers on the weekend - citations are common. It’s best on a weekday when traffic is light. Was once great, but now too many houses along the road with the expected gravel and slow car traffic. A county sheriff lives on the road. What a shame. Take it easy.

438 (North of Linden - east from 13)
Farmer’s daughter. Cleans up real nice.
Fun, but can be unexpectedly hazardous. Apparently, Mennonites live in the valley. Beware of horse crap on the road. There is actually enough to be a hazard. This is turn-around-and-do-it-again road when conditions are good. Little sections with great side-to-side transitions are very entertaining.

232 (South of Land Between the Lakes)
The nymphomaniac gymnast gone bad.
South off 79E from Paris Landing, it was an absolute giggle-fest of a road. However, now it's not. A couple of marina's were built out on some side roads and now the traffic on the road is too heavy - both in terms of congestion and weight. The pavement is in poor condition. Several areas where shadows hide broken spots and pot-holes are truly dangerous. Gravel from cross road used to be non-existent, now it's plentiful. Watch out for pickup trucks towing boats on the wrong side of the road. Usually several bikes will be there on the weekend, but it’s not crowded. Saw a sheriff there the last time I was there, but he was talking to the riders and not acting like a tax collector - that's an increasingly rare thing now.

That’s it for now. If you know of others, please comment below. Once I ride them and find them worthy, I’ll add them.

Just sharing some of the beauty I've found

2006-08-05T15:27:00.000-05:00

I've been too busy to add to my blog recently - buying & moving into a new home, work, travel, dad, chauffer and that pesky, unproductive sleeping habit I keep trying to break. However, in the midst of all that, I met two artists, both specializing in visual arts, that I wanted to share with anyone that stumbles across my blog. It's just a part of the sweet, serendipitous mystery of life that I crossed paths with them.

Links to their websites:

Kathy

Luis

My profound thanks to both of them for the beauty they find in and the beauty they add to the world . . .

My Guide to Making a Perfect Cup of Coffee

2006-05-27T00:32:00.000-05:00

This guide will show you how to make one perfect cup of coffee. There are other ways, but this one will get you one great cup of real coffee in just a little more time than you’d spend making instant “coffee” and it has the added benefit of being relatively inexpensive. That’s good, because you may find yourself addicted to great coffee. It can happen. Starbucks has proven that you can even get people addicted to awful coffee.

Good coffee isn’t bitter. You may be conditioned to equate bitter with strong. If you make it right, you'll start noticing the cascade of subtle flavors that you've never noticed before. That’s why I made this guide.

It is important to understand why little details count. Bear with me for a short lesson in the basics of how coffee beans become a cup of coffee.

The Beans

Coffee beans grow in many parts of the world, but two basic types of beans exist - Arabica and Robusta. Forget Robusta unless you just want caffeine and don't own tastebuds. Arabica is the good stuff. Still, not all Arabica is equal. Like many things, if you want the best, you get the original. That means you get Arabica beans from Ethiopia or Kenya. That’s where coffee began. Other truly great, perhaps even better, beans are out there, but start with Kenya and you’ll know why the world got hooked on coffee from the beginning. There is no substitute for good, fresh Arabica beans. They say it well at http://www.coffeefool.com/:

99% of coffee out there is stale. The good news is that stale coffee is drinkable if you have never truly had fresh coffee. The bad news is that once you have tasted truly fresh coffee, you'll be forever hooked. It will make you giddy every time you go to make a pot. Tingle right down to your toes. Reverberate around your head like a funky aura. That's because coffee, just a few days out of the roaster, is nature's most flavorful drink - more complex than even wine - containing well over 900 flavor compounds to dance on your taste buds. But after a mere ten days, you would be lucky to see half that number. Go out one month and you are skating around 10% of coffees original high.

Some of my favorite beans are: Kenya AA (as I mentioned before), Hawaiian Kona (expensive, but fabulous), Costa Rican Terrazu, and Nicaraguan Antiqua. I’m not really a connoisseur; I just know what I like. I prefer an American or Vienna roast.

The Water

Coffee is made by extraction. Hot water is used to extract the flavor-bearing components from the ground coffee beans. Of course, along with the flavor comes the real vitamin C – caffeine, but that’s just proof that there really is a God.

Back to the science. There are two important things about the water, both are easy:

First, it has to be the right temperature – approximately 200°F. Too hot, and it will extract more bitter flavor components. Too cool and it won’t extract enough flavor components. Don’t worry; my method makes the temperature part easy. The reason why too hot is bad? As the water at the right temperature picks up more flavor components, it approaches saturation and is less able to pick up more of them. Hot water can absorb more (and different) flavor components because the saturation limit of water increases with temperature. Think about how hard it is to get sugar to dissolve in iced tea vs. hot tea. (If you're not from the South, I'm sure you have no idea why someone would put sugar in their tea).

The second important thing about the water is the amount. It’s counter-intuitive, but too much water and you’ll make bitter coffee. Why? Because, remember, brewing is extraction, if you use too much water, you over-extract the bean, similar to using water that was too hot. If you like a weaker cup of coffee, save a little of the water you heat up for the brewing and add it to the finished brew. Too little water? Within a reasonable range, that’s just a waste of beans. The flavor is not really affected, just the yield. That may not make sense if you’re used to Folger’s coffee or such. That’s because you’re used to diluting the brew enough to make the bitterness less noticeable.

A couple more notes about water: Bottled or filtered water is best, but only makes a real difference if your tap water is really hard, soft, or just tastes bad. Avoid distilled water. Why? It’s all about the extraction. Distilled water is hungry water. It has much less dissolved minerals than non-distilled water. Great for your clothes iron, but the lack of dissolved minerals makes the water a stronger solvent. That means it will extract more flavor components from the beans. Just like with over-heated water or too much water, over-extraction means bitter coffee. There is one other important water factor, the time it remains in contact with your coffee beans. More time = more extraction = you guessed it, bitterness. To control the time, the tools are critical.

The Tools – What you need and why

First, you need a grinder. Blade grinders are cheap and easy to find and they will work fine. Some people prefer burr grinders. Blade grinders tend to create grounds of many different sizes - some big chunks, some dust. The problem is, the small, dusty particles will get extracted more than the bigger ones. By now you know what over-extraction causes. Burr grinders create a more consistent particle size. There’s still some variation, but not as much. That helps flavor. You can set the grinder to create smaller or larger particles. Generally, for our purposes, you want grounds that are larger grains than corn meal. Really fine particles, almost like flour, are used for espresso (the extraction time is much shorter for espresso). It’s hard to describe the particle size you need. You’ll have to experiment a little to find the grounds size that works for you. (A tip: If you must use a blade grinder, I’ve found that shaking it while it’s grinding helps create better consistency).

Second, you need a coffee maker. For my method, that’s the easy and cheap part. Drip coffee makers, percolators, etc. make coffee for armies. We’re just making one cup. Those other coffee makers also tend to get the temperature of the water wrong. Percolators tend to get it too hot. Drip coffee makers are all over the map. You’ll be using a one-cup filter holder, the matching #2 filter, and a microwave oven. The microwave can be replaced by a kettle on your stove top, but it takes longer. I recommend the Melitta single cup coffee cone and Melitta natural brown filters. These filters have small holes punched in them. The holes are too small to let grounds through, but they let the water through more quickly than other paper filters. Remember about the importance of the time the water spends with the coffee beans? These filters make smoother, more flavorful, less bitter coffee. Permanent gold filters work great too, but increase your cleanup time.

Other minor tools are needed. See the list at the end of the guide.

Now the steps:

Step 1: Get good beans. I recommend http://www.coffeefool.com/ - fast, freshly roasted, great selection, reasonable prices. If you have a local roaster, that’s a great option. (The next step in my addiction is my own roaster).

Step 2: Put 12 ounces of cold water in a microwave safe cup and bring to a boil.

Step 3: While the water’s heating up, grind the beans to match your taste. You will want 4 tablespoons of unground beans for 12 ounces of water. For the best flavor, grind just what you need just before using it.

Step 4: Put the filter and cone on your coffee cup and dump the ground coffee into it. (Remember, it’s better to have too many grounds than too few).

Step 5: When the water is boiling, take it out. Use a small instant-read thermometer to check the temperature. Because of water’s low specific heat, it’ll cool down fairly quickly. If you’re impatient, like me, you can add a small amount of cold water to speed things up a bit. When the temperature is between 190˚F - 200˚F, pour 12 oz. of water onto the grounds in the cone. If your coffee is fresh, you’ll see a beautiful, light brown foam known as bloom. That’s good. Old coffee doesn’t bloom. At this point, the smell is divine.

Step 6: Wait until the coffee drains out into your coffee cup. Drink up. It’ll be sweet. Don’t add anything.

Step 7: Thank God for such a creation.

Helpful tips:

You’ll laugh, but this is really important. To really taste the subtleties in coffee, you need to slurp it a little – get some air mixed up in there. Why’s that? We’ll your tongue really can’t taste much beyond basic bitter, sweet, salty, and spicy. It’s really your nose that tastes the complex flavors. Try it and you’ll see what I mean. So, as you’re enjoying your next cup of great coffee consider the primitive DNA connection we have with the lowly snake that smells with its tongue. Great coffee inspires great thoughts. Of course, you should also consider that extravagant slurping is annoying to everyone around you, so keep it subtle. If you don’t care about looking silly, you should become a wine snob.
Don’t freeze your beans. That’s an old wives tale. Freezing affects the porosity of the beans and, as a result, the extraction process is affected. If you want fresh coffee beans, you just have to buy them more frequently. Every addiction has a downside, sorry.
Avoid “flavored” coffees. If you like them, it’s probably because you haven’t had really good coffee yet. Those added flavors, many synthetic, overwhelm the subtle natural flavors of the coffee beans. They may mask bitter coffee, but you won’t be making bitter coffee anymore. Interestingly, most of those synthetic flavors are actually just odors. You’re tongue can’t perceive them at all.
Here’s a fine detail: If it’s convenient, keep a small spray bottle of water handy. Just before you pour the hot water on the grounds, soak them with the water in the spray bottle. This will keep large clumps of dry grounds from floating to the top as you add the hot water. That means they’ll be where they should be for extraction to occur. If you don’t have the spray bottle, you just have to chase them around a little with the hot water.

Tool list:

Burr grinder - $60 up to whatever you’re willing to spend. Blade grinders are about $15.
2 tablespoon scoop (1/8 cup)
Melitta Single Cup Coffee Cone - http://www.melitta.com/ (Click on the manual coffee maker link. See CM-0/2 BLACK, PLASTIC FILTER CONE FOR ONE CUP)
Melitta natural brown #2 filters – http://www.melitta.com/ or your local retailer (These filters are important)
A microwave safe cup, like a Pyrex measuring cup or a ceramic creamer. It needs to be big enough to contain water that’s boiling.
A cheap, instant-read thermometer like you use to stick into a roast to check the temperature. These are less than $5 at Walmart. They look like a 6 inch long metal spear with a little dial gauge on the end of it. Mine is made by Baker’s Secret.

Total tool cost: Less than $80 or a month’s supply of Starbucks coffee.

Consider that, including the cost of premium beans and the Melitta filters, it’ll cost you about 25 cents per cup for your superb coffee. At that price you can afford to get your friends addicted. Enjoy.

My 2004 Suzuki SV650 - An Addictive Little Project

2006-05-22T21:46:00.002-05:00

I'm posting this just to get some stuff up on my blog:

I'll skip the details on how this bike became mine, but suffice to say, since it's not a hard-core sportbike, it's not one I would have usually purchased. It's a bright, pearl yellow, naked version. I would've never thought it would happen, but I fell in love with this fun little bike. However, it wasn't close to my standards in stock form, so I set about modifying. That's been fun. Not as much as riding it, but like a cherry on your ice cream. Anyhow, here's some of what I've done so far:

7/26/08 Update: Recent changes: First, replaced the first GSXR1000 rear shock with another $60 one from ebay because I wore the first one out (the bike has almost 30,000 miles on it now). I will keep this shock until this winter when I will get the Penske unit. Second, I bought a conversion kit to change the front/rear sprocket to a 14/47 combo with a 520 chain. I only bought it to use at Deal's Gap. Acceleration is better due to the shorter gearing, but revs are too high for my typical highway speeds so I replace the stock ratios for normal riding (Vortex front and rear 15/45 with a 525 chain). Third, I had the Power Commander tuned by Ken Wheeler. He's a master and an SV owner himself. He yanked the snorkel off, adjusted the TPS properly (if you own a 2003+ SV, you probably need this done) and did the full range tune. What a difference! More power, especially in the mid-range, and a really beautiful intake honk now. Love it!

I've significantly improved this bike over stock. It's more powerful, better handling, better looking, and more comfortable that a new one. It will outrun your local sheriff. Don't ask me how I know. (And, no, it won’t outrun his radio - again, don't ask me how I know). Seriously, for 23 years, I've owned and ridden (many miles and almost daily) many sport bikes from 350cc to 1000cc. This bike is as much fun (no, not as fast) as any of them and way more practical. It'll do everything but dirt.

Here's some of the icing I've added to Suzuki's original cake:
• Motrax bar end mirrors - look just like the CRG mirrors, but cost 1/5th the price. Not shown in photo, but I'll update it soon. Huge functional and cosmetic improvement. Filled handlebar with BB's to make up for losing the bar end weights.
• Suburban Machinery Intermediate Handlebar - positions grip lower and farther forward than stock, but not nearly as extreme as a full sport bike crouch. Love it.
• Race Tech / Traxxion Dynamics Cartridge Emulator Kit in front forks - makes the old stock forks seem like pogo sticks. The stock suspension is the weakest part of the SV. It's a shame Suzuki doesn't do just a little more to really make the suspension worthy of the rest of the bike. Replace the 64lb valve springs with 48lb to get more compliance for high-speed compression. 3 turns of spring preload on emulators.
• Race Tech 0.85 kg fork springs - proper springs for an aggressive 200 lb. rider instead of the 160 lb. moped rider the OEM springs were built for.
• 2002 Suzuki GSXR-1000 fully adjustable rear shock. Words can’t describe how much better this shock is than the pathetic OEM shock. This took some modification of the battery and tool kit tray. I'm seriously tempted to buy a Penske or Ohlins shock for the rear, but I only paid $60 for the GSXR shock on ebay, so the premium $$ for the rich stuff is hard to justify. Of course, lack of justification is a weak barrier.
• Dynojet Power Commander III USB Programmable fuel injection control unit. More power, but more importantly, smoother power at low revs than the snatchy stock bike.
• K&N filter - just because the Suzuki paper unit was almost as expensive.
• Scorpion Oval Slip-on Exhaust - cheap and sufficient.
• Color-matched genuine Suzuki Solo Seat Cowl - I never ride passengers and this combined with the integrated taillight really clean up the rear end. Had to modify it & the bike a little to get the fit I wanted. Stock, it sat up higher than the surrounding bodywork. Ground off the raised lip around where the seat latch assembly screws to the subframe. Carved off 2 mm of the rubber bumpers on the cowl. Used adhesive backed foam under the cowl hook plate to get it to feel solid.
• Genuine Suzuki Gel Seat - Not in the photos here. Way better than the stock seat without giving up distance between the seat and pegs the way the Corbin and Sargent dished-out seats do. Gets and stays hot as a skillet in summer though. I have to cover it in the sun or scrambled huevos for sure.
• Integrated LED Turn signal-Taillight and front LED turn signals - I added resistors to slow the LED turn signals to stock blinker rate. Looks like the stock bike should have looked, but didn't. I got the integrated taillight replacement new on ebay and it's excellent. The front ones were from Lockhart Phillips. Cheap and easy. The resistors for the taillight came with it. I got the resistors for the front from a Powerbronze dealer at the AMA superbike races at Barber motorsports park. I'm sure they're available elsewhere.
• Heated grips - these are pure genius. From a kit I bought on Aerostich's excellent web site.
• Titanium muffler bracket - Lockhart Phillips I think.
• New EK X-ring gold chain - after I trashed the original one on a 2000 mile trip where every minute was like a monsoon.
• Valentine 1 radar detector - Actually this one moves between my vehicles, but I have a H.A.R.D. system from radarbusters.com so I get a heads-up warning in my Arai helmet. I Don't leave home without it. I carry a couple of ziploc bags for the detector heads up unit in case of rain.
There's some other stuff I'm forgetting, I'm sure. The mods happened over the last two years, but they've slowed down some.

Now the pictures. I apologize for the quality. I took them with my Treo. It sucks as a phone and a camera.